Surdophobia Flashcards
What is surdophobia?
- Surdophobia is a condition that will trigger a state of fear, known or unknown, in the person facing Deaf people
- Surdophobia is now defined as:
- “hostility, intolerance or fear against Deaf people, Deaf culture and the Deaf Community, including resistance to the use of sign languages”
when was surdophobia coined?
- Surdophobia is first coined in 1997 by a Deaf Dutch Social worker, Gardy van Gils as
= FEAR OF DEAF PROFESSIONALS
examples of surdophobia
- Rachel [Deaf] was at GP and saw a little boy with hearing aids in the waiting room. He was with a grandmother. She was shouting at him.
Not because he was being naughty, but because she obviously thought that by shouting, he’d be able to hear what she was saying. The boy looked lost. He didn’t engage with the grandmother or the group of older women she was with, all talking to him in pretty much the same fashion. He was just sitting there staring into space.
Rachel tried to get the little boy’s attention to give him a few encouraging looks, and when he eventually looked at her, she signed “are you deaf? Me too!”. He perked up, but then the grandmother intervened and said, “he doesn’t sign”. Rachel then got called in for her appointment.
- A Deaf-blind professional was prevented from attending conference linked to her research on Usher Syndrome by her boss
She went direct to the CEO who then authorised her attendance at the Conference where she also presented paper.
CEO then retired soon after, and her boss then blocked her from future seminars and meetings and she felt undervalued for next 5 years
